HP 17-x008ds Notebook Review

By Tech For Pennies

October 26, 2016

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Interested in a certified refurbished model? Their price is lower compared to brand new ones, but in “exchange” somebody has used them a bit before you – but often they are in pristine condition and you can’t see signs of use. HP 17-x008ds is this kind of a notebook, and below we’ll take a closer look at its features and benefits…

General performance?

The most important component defining the performance is processor, and in HP 17-x008ds it’s the Intel Pentium N3710. Being a quad-core CPU with 1.6GHz clock speed and 2.6GHz turbo boost you might expect a lot, but keep in mind it’s just a Pentium – having lower rank than Core i3s, for example. CPU Mark score is ~1800, for home and light multimedia use it’s fine but not for resource-intensive programs.

There is 8GB DDR3L (1600MHz speed) RAM installed on a single stick, it’s a sufficient amount and needs no criticism. I must however say the hard drive (1TB 5400RPM) is a bit outdated in terms of performance, and upgrade to SSD is often recommended to make computer faster.

Ports and connections

The ports side of HP 17-x008ds is rather usual: one USB 3.0 and two USB 2.0 for hooking up your main peripherals, such as input device(s) or external hard drives. A monitor or TV can be plugged in to the HDMI-output.

For getting Internet access, a basic 100Mbps RJ-45 port and 802.11bgn Wireless card are offered. As far as I know, there’s no Bluetooth on this laptop.

An internal DVD burner is included, so is SD card slot for uploading data from several devices (such as digital cameras).

Check out what other people are saying about this laptop on Amazon.com.

How’s the gaming side?

The HP is not a gamer friendly laptop at all, thanks to the low-end Intel HD 405 graphics engine. It’s in the same category than the better-known (yet slow) Intel HD 4000, and together with the slow processor form a bad base for triple A games: GTA 5, The Witcher 3, Doom and the like are all too much for the laptop. However, on low-medium settings you can still enjoy titles like WoW or CS: Go.

Miscellaneous things

The prominent feature of HP 17-x008ds is its big screen. At 17.3 inches, it’s larger than your average 15-incher, so watching movies should be enjoyable – however you’re only getting 1600×900 resolution, keep that in mind! It also supports touch and a front-facing webcam is embedded on top.

There are no actual user reports on the 3-cell 31Whr battery this unit includes, but it’s safe to assume the usual 4 hours operating time before you need a recharge.

The notebook sports backlit keyboard, a rarity for this price!

Verdict

HP 17-x008ds is a budget laptop and it should be treated as such. The Pentium processor is sufficient for day-to-day computing, yet power users would be smart to steer away from it. The large screen is decent for multimedia use if you don’t mind the resolution. But indeed, the notebook is not pricey by any standards – if you want it cheap, this HP could be something you enjoy!